The present invention relates generally to container systems and methods and more specifically to container cleaning systems and methods for cleaning drink containers such as jugs, water bottles and the like.
Drink containers such as jugs, water bottles and the like that are used for drinking can easily become unsanitary. As an example, a drink container may become contaminated with microscopic organisms like algae that latch onto crevices in the unused drinking bottles after such bottles have been sitting for a while.
Algae growth is quite common in the summer when sunlight and warmer temperatures can cause algae to flourish in water bottles. Thus, in order to reuse the drinking containers, the water bottles must undergo a cleaning process.
A user wishing to clean a contaminated or unsanitary drinking container typically begins by adding liquid detergent or just detergent and water into the unsanitary drinking container. The user then shakes the mixture vigorously inside the unsanitary drinking container in order to remove the algae. After shaking or agitating the unsanitary container, the detergent and water mixture is then poured out of the bottle. Clean water is then added to rinse out the bottle. Oftentimes, the user then adds clean water a number of times in order to decontaminate and remove all of the soap as well as algae inside the container.
As the user continues to wash out the unsanitary container, the user may begin to realize that inordinate amounts of water is being used over and over to completely clean out the unsanitary container and to remove any traces of soap or detergent that may have been used in the cleaning process.
After the user is comfortable that the water bottle is clean, the user can then begin to use the water bottle again. As the user reuses the water bottle, particularly for the first time after cleaning, the user may nevertheless realize that remnants of the detergent remain in the water bottle. In some cases, the user may taste the toxic detergent in his or her mouth and may cause damage to the user's health.
It is within the aforementioned context that a need for the present invention has arisen. The foregoing background has been provided as context for the present invention and is not intended to highlight or indicate specific disadvantages of conventional systems to which the present invention is limited.